The Stormers boss said they had learned how to win away since their "fiasco" against Munster in Limerick four years ago.
Stormers boss John Dobson said his side has learned how to evolve their game and win matches away – a far cry from the team that lost poorly to Munster in their inaugural United Rugby Championship clash.
The sides clash at Thomond Park, Limerick, for the third time since 2021, with the Irish team having the Stormers’ number on both previous occasions.
The Stormers have won just one of their three home matches against Munster, including a 19-14 defeat in the 2023 URC final in Cape Town.
This season, the Stormers find themselves top of the URC table after five straight wins, including three on their best-ever overseas tour.
There, they whitewashed Scarlets 34-0 in Llanelli for a bonus-point win, beat Zebre 31-13 in Parma for another bonus point, and then beat Benetton 31-16 in Treviso.
Stormers evolved since 2021 ‘fiasco’
Munster also have five wins and lie second on the URC table.
Their 4-1 record against the Capetonians is not to be downplayed, Dobson said. But he compared his team to the one that lost 34-18 four years back, and said the difference was telling.
“I have never enjoyed coaching a Stormers team as much as this one,” the director of rugby said after naming his team.
“It is a tight group and there is belief… We feel we are more evolved, we are more attuned to what we need to do to win on the road.
“This is not Thomond Park where we came bewildered in the first year of URC. Stormers had never been to Ireland. Salmaan [Moerat] got a yellow card for jumping across in the lineout; we had just never seen the stuff. There was a citing, it was a fiasco.
“I think we are long way from that. They will see a very different Stormers team.”
Still, he recognised that Munster had brought their Ireland internationals into the mix straight after their Autumn Series.
“And it is one of the cathedrals of European rugby where we have a poor record. We know what we are up against, but there is no doubt that we have the ability in this group and the focus and desperation to do this.”
